Friday , March 29 2024

Mohun Bagan – the unlikely 2019/20 I-League champions!

Asia’s oldest football club and Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan AC convincingly won the 2019/20 I-League trophy, their second I-League title in addition to their three National Football League trophies.

My personal congratulations to Mohun Bagan – the players, coaches, club officials and fans on winning the 2019/20 I-League!

But lets revisit the story of Mohun Bagan’s 2019/20 season which despite the cancellation of the 2019/20 I-League was a memorable one which will be remembered by the Mariner fans.

On May 10, 2019, Mohun Bagan announced Spaniard José Antonio ‘Kibu’ Vicuña as their new head coach for the new 2019/20 season. My first thought was, is Mohun Bagan also jumping onto the bandwagon of having a Spanish coach, which was the flavour of the time in Indian club football.

I checked with friends and contacts in Poland, who spoke very highly of Kibu Vicuna but said that he would need time to set his system, which led me to the observation that normally getting that time with one of the Kolkata giants wasn’t easy due to club officials, the fans and media.

Ahead of the Calcutta Football League, Kibu Vicuna signed Spanish quintett defender Fran Morante, midfielders Fran González and Joseba Beitia, winger Julen Colinas Olaizola besides striker Salva Chamorro and Trinidad & Tobago defender Daneil Cyrus.

But the CFL didn’t go as planned with Mohun Bagan dropping points at regular intervals and in the end they finished runners-up to surprise champions Peerless SC and ahead of archrivals East Bengal Club.

In parallel India’s oldest club tournament the Durand Cup was played for the first-time in Kolkata and the Mariners reached the final which they lost to eventual champions Gokulam Kerala FC.

Mohun Bagan as preparations for the I-League played the Sheikh Jamal Invitational tournament in Bangladesh with Kibu Vicuna having his strategy in place to be ready for the I-League.

The club management convinced the coach to replace striker Salva Chamorro and they brought in Senegalese striker Papa Babacar ‘Baba’ Diawara, another piece of the puzzle.

But Mohun Bagan didn’t have the best of starts with a draw at Aizawl FC and a home loss to Churchill Brothers. The turning point was a 4-0 win over TRAU FC and a hard earned 2-1 victory over Gokulam Kerala FC, but the Gokulam win left Julen Colinas out of the rest of season injured and it took a while before Komron Tursunov of Tajikistan came as a replacement.

Despite these problems Mohun Bagan went on a lengthy unbeaten run which took them clear of the rest of the pack. It wasn’t just the foreigners who impressed be it Fran Gonzalez with his leadership skills, Fran Morante in defence, Joseba Beitia as playmaker and the goalscoring skills of Papa Diawara, but also young Indians in goalkeeper Sankar Roy, midfielder Sheikh Sahil, winger Nongdamba Naorem and striker Subha Ghosh played their part.

Mohun Bagan sealed their second I-League title on March 10 with a 1-0 win over Aizawl FC just days before the Coronavirus pandemic led to a lockdown. After the indifferent start, Mohun Bagan found their groove and freeflowing style of football which led to a convincing championship.

With Mohun Bagan merging with ATK in the summer, this successful team is history with head coach Kibu Vicuna signing to coach Kerala Blasters next season and not many players set to make the ATK-Mohun Bagan roaster.

Once more, my personal congratulations to Mohun Bagan – the players, coaches, club officials and fans on winning the 2019/20 I-League!

About Arunava Chaudhuri

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